After the tests and the T20s. India and England faced off in the final leg of their contests in Pune. The hosts came out on top with a 66-run win riding on the heroics of the debutants.
Virat Kohli’s abysmal toss record against England meant that they were sent out to bat first once again. As speculated earlier, Krunal Pandya and Prasidh Krishna were handed their ODI debuts.
Tight line and length operations from the new ball pair of Mark Wood and Sam Curran ensured India have a lean start. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan exercised caution to put up 39 runs in the powerplay phase.
While Dhawan gained momentum in his innings with some expansive drives, Sharma failed to get going. The Hitman had to depart for 28 after looking to chase a wide delivery from Stokes.
Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan shared a 105-run stand for the second wicket, but the stand was broken after the Indian skipper holed out in the deep right after his half-century.
Dhawan was dismissed in the nineties for the 6th time in his career with a soft dismissal to Ben Stokes. The Indian opener missed out on a well deserved century by just 2 runs.
The wicket of Shreyas Iyer and Hardik Pandya pegged back the Indian innings. From 169-1 at one stage, they slid down to 205-5.
Debutant Krunal Pandya and KL Rahul’s calculated slog hitting, propelled India to a total of 317-5 after their 50 overs.
England got off to a golden start riding on their reliable opening pair of Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar was able to contain the dangerous duo, debutant Prasidh was unable to cope with their aggressive intent.
The visitors racked up 89 runs in the powerplay phase and even brought up the 100-run partnership in no time as well. The stand was broken at 135 with Jason Roy falling in his forties yet again to Prasidh Krishna for his maiden wicket.
The pacer struck once again by removing the struggling Ben Stokes who could only muster a solitary run off 11 deliveries. Captain Morgan, playing with six stitches, also had a short stint at the crease.
Indian bowlers clawed their way back into the game with wickets at regular intervals in the middle overs. Lack of partnerships derailed England’s momentum as they slumped to a 55-run defeat. Prasidh Krishna with the last scalp of the game became the first Indian to pick up 4 wickets on his debut.
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